Toolbox Talk: Reading a Safety Data Sheet

Before you start

Print the SDS for a chemical your crew uses every week. Know where your site keeps its SDS binder or app.

Read this to your crew

Every hazardous chemical we use comes with a safety data sheet. It tells you what the hazards are, how to protect yourself and what to do if something goes wrong. Every SDS has the same 16 sections in the same order, so once you know where to look, you can find answers fast.

Today we will look at one SDS together and focus on the four sections you are most likely to need.

Key points

Know where they are. You have the right to see the SDS for any chemical you work with. Know where ours are kept.
Section 2: Hazards. Shows the pictograms, the signal word (Danger or Warning) and what the chemical can do to you.
Section 4: First aid. What to do for eye contact, skin contact, breathing it in or swallowing it.
Section 7: Handling and storage. How to use and store it safely, including what not to store it with.
Section 8: Exposure controls and PPE. The gloves, eye protection, respirator or ventilation you need.

Ask the crew

Which chemical here would you most want to check the SDS for?
What is the signal word on the product we use most?
If someone got this in their eyes, what does Section 4 tell us to do?

Picture this

A cleaner mixes two products to make a stronger cleaner and fills a small room with irritating gas. Section 7 of either SDS would have warned that they should never be mixed.

Print this page to use the sign-in sheet, or skip the paper and record attendance digitally in SafetyIQ.

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Talk leader: ______________ Date: ______________ Site: ______________